Budding artist sketches a bright future

A BUDDING artist who caught the eye of one of her comedy heroes while overcoming multiple family bereavements has achieved the results she needs to follow her passion.

Ripon Grammar School student Kayleigh Yarker suffered immense personal loss during her sixth form years but, inspired by Japanese-style animations, she never let her grief dull her creativity.

Having coped with the death of her beloved grandfather Bob and aunt, Olive, along with the suicide of a close family friend in her last year of sixth form, her stunning portfolio not only secured her a place at the Northern School of Art but also led to a recent commission from her favourite cult comedian, John Robertson.

Kayleigh, whose mother also suffered a breakdown during this difficult period, was delighted to achieve an A in her A-level art.

The 18-year-old, from Ripon, who has been learning Japanese alongside her A-levels, is now setting up her own online art store and plans to travel to Japan in her gap year before taking up her place to study production design for stage and screen

She said she was especially overjoyed to receive the commission from Australian stand-up comedian John Robertson when she met him after a show in London during the summer, at the end of her bleakest school year, which left her ‘bouncing off the walls with joy’.

The keen costume and prop maker had queued up for more than an hour to see Robertson after his performance at London’s Comicon comic book fan convention. And when she showed him some of her Japanese-style animation work the comedian, known for his high-energy, improvisational style, was instantly impressed.

She praised her time in RGS sixth form: “Sixth form at RGS is incredible. The staff are amazing, there are so many teachers who make learning difficult and tiresome subjects just that little bit more bearable. And even outside lessons, they genuinely take an interest in their students.

“The teachers are just so interested in our lives it makes it easier to form more positive memories and connections. They aren't just another teacher you'll forget in ten, 20 or even 30 years’ time.”

It was during her time in sixth form that she started learning Japanese through online tutorials as her love of the country grew: “It started with my love of Japanese animation and listening to shows in Japanese rather than English, but it’s honestly just such a beautiful language,” she said.